Pi Zero CTA & Weather Dashboard

This repository implements a real-time display for CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) bus arrivals, local weather, and air quality on an E-ink display.

Status: ✅ Working (Display loop active)

This implementation follows the Raspberry Pi Service Deployment Skill (see pi_lab/skill.md).

Features

• CTA Real-time Bus Tracking: Shows the next 3 bus arrivals for configured stops.
• 3-Day Weather Forecast: Displays daily high/low temps and weather conditions via wttr.in.
• Air Quality Monitoring: Displays PM2.5 levels from a remote sensor Pi.
• E-ink Optimized: Designed for Waveshare E-ink displays with a rotation-based view system.

Hardware Requirements

• Raspberry Pi (Zero, 3, 4, or 5)
• Waveshare E-ink Display (e.g., 2.13 inch V4)
• Connection to a sensor Pi (for Air Quality)

Deployment Workflow

1. Repository Setup

git clone <your-repo-url>
cd pi_zero

2. Python Virtual Environment

# Create the virtual environment
python3 -m venv venv

# Activate it
source venv/bin/activate

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

2.5 Waveshare Library Setup

If you encounter "Error: Waveshare library not found", you must fetch the driver library from the official repository. This project requires the lib folder from waveshareteam/e-Paper.

# Clone the repository (temporary)
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/waveshareteam/e-Paper.git temp-e-paper

# Copy the lib folder to your project root
cp -r temp-e-paper/RaspberryPi_JetsonNano/python/lib ./lib

# Clean up
rm -rf temp-e-paper

3. Configuration

Before running, edit app.py to update:

• CTA_API_KEY: Your 25-digit CTA API key.
• CTA_STOP_IDS: The stop IDs you want to track.
• SENSOR_PI_IP: The IP address of your air quality sensor Pi.

4. Systemd Service Configuration

Create the service file to manage the process:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/ctatracker.service

Paste the contents of the ctatracker.service file provided in this repo. Ensure the User and WorkingDirectory paths match your installation.

5. Deployment

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable ctatracker.service
sudo systemctl start ctatracker.service

Debugging & Troubleshooting

MicroSD Card Longevity

Crucial: To prevent premature wear and failure of MicroSD cards, avoid excessive logging. This project implements a "data-first" fetch pattern to ensure the E-ink hardware is only engaged when data is successfully received, minimizing power-on/reset cycles.

Checking Logs

# View all logs for the service
journalctl -u ctatracker.service

# Follow logs in real-time
journalctl -u ctatracker.service -f